THE CHRISTMAS VIRTUES A TREASURY OF CONSERVATIVE TALES FOR THE HOLIDAYS

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From the all-star cast that brought you The Seven Deadly Virtues and The Dadly Virtues comes the ultimate Christmas survival guide: The Christmas Virtues. The Christmas season is a minefield of terrors: The family get-togethers with weird uncles, the sloppy office parties, the annoying 10-page Look-at-Us holiday letters—and we haven’t even mentioned the Black Friday mobs and that wretched Alvin and the Chipmunks song that plays every 90 minutes on Pandora, whether you like it or not. Rum-pah-pah-pum. And don’t forget the PC police lurking around every corner looking to beat the last bits of joy and comradery out of our society. Merry Christmas? Really? But it doesn’t have to be this way. 'Tis the season to recapture the wonder of Christmas, in our hearts and in our homes and even out in the public square. The Christmas Virtues is a humorous companion for, and guide to, navigating the trials and tribulations of the holiday season. It’s a reminder of how we can embrace the joy, hope, and love of Christmas—of the real Christmas. And a call for us to stand up for Christmas because America needs it now, more than ever. So sit back and enjoy the following tales by your favorite authors: Rob Long’s "The Christmas Spirit: In Defense of Ebenezer Scrooge.” P. J. O’Rourke’s “The Commercialization of Christmas: God Moves (The Merchandise) in a Mysterious Way.” Andrew Ferguson’s “Jingle Bell Rock: Taking the Christ Out of Christmas Songs” Matt Labash’s “Home for the Holidays: The Trials and Tribulations of Family.” Stephen F. Hayes’ "here Comes Santa Claus: The Wonder of Christmas Morning." Toby Young’s “The ghosts of Christmas: Holidays Past and Present” Jonah Goldberg’s “The War on Christmas: It’s Real, and It’s Spectacular.” Christopher Buckley’s “Saint Joseph: The Forgotten ‘Father Christmas.’” Kirsten Powers’ “The first Noel: Christmas with Jesus.” James Lileks' "Boxing Day and the Christmas Hangover." And More
Category: Humor

An all-star team of eighteen conservative writers offers a hilarious, insightful, sanctimony-free remix of William Bennett’s The Book of Virtues—without parental controls. The Seven Deadly Virtues sits down next to readers at the bar, buys them a drink, and an hour or three later, ushers them into the revival tent without them even realizing it. The book’s contributors include Sonny Bunch, Christopher Buckley, David “Iowahawk” Burge, Christopher Caldwell, Andrew Ferguson, Jonah Goldberg, Michael Graham, Mollie Hemingway, Rita Koganzon, Matt Labash, James Lileks, Rob Long, Larry Miller, P. J. O’Rourke, Joe Queenan, Christine Rosen, and Andrew Stiles. Jonathan V. Last, senior writer at the Weekly Standard, editor of the collection, is also a contributor. All eighteen essays in this book are appearing for the first time anywhere. In the book’s opening essay, P. J. O’Rourke observes: “Virtue has by no means disappeared. It’s as much in public view as ever. But it’s been strung up by the heels. Virtue is upside down. Virtue is uncomfortable. Virtue looks ridiculous. All the change and the house keys are falling out of Virtue’s pants pockets.” Here are the virtues everyone (including the book’s contributors) was taught in Sunday school but have totally forgotten about until this very moment. In this sanctimony-free zone: • Joe Queenan observes: “In essence, thrift is a virtue that resembles being very good at Mahjong. You’ve heard about people who can do it, but you’ve never actually met any of them.” • P. J. O’Rourke notes: “Fortitude is quaint. We praise the greatest generation for having it, but they had aluminum siding, church on Sunday, and jobs that required them to wear neckties or nylons (but never at the same time). We don’t want those either.” • Christine Rosen writes: “A fellowship grounded in sociality means enjoying the company of those with whom you actually share physical space rather than those with whom you regularly and enthusiastically exchange cat videos.” • Rob Long offers his version of modern day justice: if you sleep late on the weekend, you are forced to wait thirty minutes in line at Costco. • Jonah Goldberg offers: “There was a time when this desire-to-do-good-in-all-things was considered the only kind of integrity: ‘Angels are better than mortals. They’re always certain about what is right because, by definition, they’re doing God’s will.’ Gabriel knew when it was okay to remove a mattress tag and Sandalphon always tipped the correct amount.” • Sonny Bunch dissects forbearance, observing that the fictional Two Minutes Hate of George Orwell’s 1984 is now actually a reality directed at living, breathing people. Thanks, in part, to the Internet, “Its targets are designated by a spontaneously created mob—one that, due to its hive-mind nature—is virtually impossible to call off.” By the time readers have completed The Seven Deadly Virtues, they won’t even realize that they’ve just been catechized into an entirely different—and better—moral universe.
Category: Humor

From the all-star cast who brought you The Seven Deadly Virtues comes a book with a look at the good life... or the crazy-stressful-overwhelmed life... of a father. The Dadly Virtues is a tongue-in-cheek collection of encouragement and guidance for any stage of fatherhood, from pacifying babies to prepping for senior prom, from cutting the cord to getting the first, “Best Grandpa” t-shirt. P.J. O’Rourke sets the stage with the chapter, “What Do Men Get from Fatherhood? Besides What They Put In ...” and then is followed by: •Matthew Continetti’s, “Newborn Terror: The Moment You Realize that ‘Bundle of Joy’ Is a Euphemism for Something Very Different.” •Stephen F. Hayes’ “Siblings: The Best Gift You’ll Ever Give Your Kids.” •Jonah Goldberg’s “Get Your Kid a Dog: The Moral Case for Pets.” •Tucker Carlson’s “In Praise of Adventure: How to Fill a Child’s Life with Excitement and Danger (without Getting Them Killed).” •Michael Graham’s, “Dating: Enjoy the Movie and Please Keep the Impregnation to a Minimum.” •Christopher Caldwell’s “College: It’s Not as Bad as You Think; It’s Worse.” •Andrew Ferguson’s “Emerging Adults and Empty Nesters: Just When You Had Fatherhood All Figured Out.” •Toby Young’s “The Dark Side: Bad Parenting and the Things We Think, but Do Not Say.” •Joseph Epstein’s “Thanks, Grandpa: Grandfatherhood and the Spirit of the Age.” •And more. Father-to-be, two-time-dad, or granddad, each essay will make you laugh and, at the same time, reinforce your commitment to the virtuous—the dadly—life.
Category: Family & Relationships

Christmas is a time for sharing, and hand-knitted gifts for friends and family are the perfect way to spread a little festive joy. We Knit You a Merry Christmas has something for everyone. Traditional Christmas characters such as angels, choir boys, Father Christmas and the three kings make great decorations. Or add some fun and laughter to your Christmas celebrations this year with knitted animals such as sheep (Baa Humbug), crocodiles ('Snappy Christmas') and Three French Hens, as well as quirkier items like chillies, sledging snowballs and of course the famous pea (Ha Pea Christmas). So forget gold, frankincense and myrrh and give the gift of knitting this Christmas. Word count: 12,000
Category: Crafts & Hobbies

In the wake of 9/11 no one knew when the next attack would come, or where it would come from. America's enemies seemed gathered on all sides, and for several nerve-racking months, we lived in fear that the perpetrators might be plotting another action or, worse, that our most dangerous enemies -- al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's murderous regime in Iraq -- could be banding together against us. The Bush administration and CIA director George Tenet warned against complacency and pointed to growing indications that al Qaeda and Iraq were in league. But their case was undercut by unnamed intelligence officials, skeptical politicians, and a compliant media. So America relaxed. A comforting consensus settled in: Osama bin Laden was an impassioned fundamentalist, Saddam a secular autocrat. The two would never, could never, work together. ABC News reported that there was no connection between them, and the New York Times said so too, and pretty soon just about everyone agreed. Just about everyone was wrong. In The Connection, Stephen Hayes draws on CIA debriefings, top-secret memos from our national intelligence agencies, and interviews with Iraqi military leaders and Washington insiders to demonstrate that Saddam and bin Laden not only could work together, they did -- a curious relationship that stretches back more than a decade and may include collaboration on terrorist acts, chemical-weapons training, and sheltering some of the world's most wanted radicals. Stephen Hayes's bombshell Weekly Standard piece on this topic was cited by Vice President Cheney as the "best source of information" about the Saddam-al Qaeda connections. Now Hayes delves even deeper, exposing the inner workings of America's deadliest opponents and providing a clear-eyed corrective to reams of underreported, politicized, and just plain wrong information. The Connection is both a gripping snapshot of the War on Terror and a case study in how bureaucratic assumptions and media arrogance can put us all at risk.
Category: Political Science

The Comfort of Little Things is a thought-provoking book that empowers educators to give themselves and the people in their lives second chances in order for themselves and the children they teach to learn and thrive. This book includes stories from the author and contributors to the author's blog posts. Holly Elissa Bruno is an author, attorney, acclaimed keynote speaker, and host of an online radio program. Her other Redleaf Press books are Managing Legal Risks in Early Childhood Programs (co-published with Teachers College Press) and Learning from the Bumps in the Road.
Category: Education

Look around you and think for a minute: Is America too crowded? For years, we have been warned about the looming danger of overpopulation: people jostling for space on a planet that’s busting at the seams and running out of oil and food and land and everything else. It’s all bunk. The “population bomb” never exploded. Instead, statistics from around the world make clear that since the 1970s, we’ve been facing exactly the opposite problem: people are having too few babies. Population growth has been slowing for two generations. The world’s population will peak, and then begin shrinking, within the next fifty years. In some countries, it’s already started. Japan, for instance, will be half its current size by the end of the century. In Italy, there are already more deaths than births every year. China’s One-Child Policy has left that country without enough women to marry its men, not enough young people to support the country’s elderly, and an impending population contraction that has the ruling class terrified. And all of this is coming to America, too. In fact, it’s already here. Middle-class Americans have their own, informal one-child policy these days. And an alarming number of upscale professionals don’t even go that far—they have dogs, not kids. In fact, if it weren’t for the wave of immigration we experienced over the last thirty years, the United States would be on the verge of shrinking, too. What happened? Everything about modern life—from Bugaboo strollers to insane college tuition to government regulations—has pushed Americans in a single direction, making it harder to have children. And making the people who do still want to have children feel like second-class citizens. What to Expect When No One’s Expecting explains why the population implosion happened and how it is remaking culture, the economy, and politics both at home and around the world. Because if America wants to continue to lead the world, we need to have more babies.
Category: Social Science

Our virtues can become our vices. Faith. Love. Family. Power. Success. Goodness. Generosity. Who among us wouldn't want to exhibit strength in these areas in our lives? It's hard to imagine this list being similar to the "seven deadly sins" that we strive to avoid, such as greed, lust, and slothfulness. But even so-called virtues can be harmful to our souls if we're not careful about how we pursue them in our lives. Todd Outcalt explores the fine line between virtues and vices, and he helps us to discern the difference between the two. Using biblical insights, classic and contemporary illustrations, and thoughtful commentary, he uncovers ways our flawed priorities and values can masquerade as healthy religious practices and goals. He opens our eyes to misconceptions of what true character is in the eyes of God and shows us how to reorient ourselves toward virtuous living. Pursuing God with clear motivations and pure hearts is not always as straightforward as it sounds. The Seven Deadly Virtues will help you recognize and remove the everyday stumbling blocks in your Christian walk that keep you from true spiritual growth and vitality.
Category: Religion

Lifelong liberal Kirsten Powers blasts the Left's forced march towards conformity in an exposé of the illiberal war on free speech. No longer champions of tolerance and free speech, the "illiberal Left" now viciously attacks and silences anyone with alternative points of view. Powers asks, "What ever happened to free speech in America?"
Category: Political Science

"Revision is the spiritual practice of transformation--of seeing text, and therefore the world, with new eyes. Done well, revision returns us to our original love." In Living Revision, award-winning author and teacher Elizabeth J. Andrew guides writers through the writing and revision process. With insight and grace, Andrew asks writers to flex their spiritual muscles, helping them to transform their writing as they in turn transform themselves into more curious and reflective human beings.
Category: Authorship